[Grovenet] A heckuva job! ! ! ! ! !

[Steven]

Gore is raking in a $200k speaking fee at an upcoming 
conference in Santiago on his favorite current topic. One of the major 
sponsors of this event is Barrick Gold, infamous for its machinations in 
Zayre (where I've lived); in 1996, Barrick Gold simply moved in and laid 
claim to gold mines at Kilomoto and Doko, in the northeast province of 
Haut-Zaire. Others joined in the stampede, including Anglo American Corp. 
(based in South Africa), and the newly formed America Mineral Fields (AMF, a 
British Commonwealth company, founded in Canada in 1995, for "exploration" 
purposes), which locked in a deal for the mammoth Kipushi copper mines in 
Shaba province. When even all these give-away deals — signed as preliminary 
contracts with Mobutu Sese Seko, then President of Zaire — weren't enough for 
the Anglo-Dutch commodities cartel, they pursued a "regime change."

Another key sponsor is Sebastian Pinera, who is also a driving force behind 
the creation, in Chile , of the "National Committee of Support for Al Gore's 
Candidacy for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize." Pinera ran for President against 
Michele Bachelet in 2005, and was backed by the apparatus associated with 
Chilean dictator Gen. August Pinochet.

The billionaire Sebastian Pinera--the brother of the infamous Jose Pinera who 
was Labor Minister under Pinochet and was the architect of social security 
privatization in that country--is now heading up a nasty campaign to bring 
down the Bachelet government, which was inaugurated in March 2006. 

Chilean environmentalists are up in arms because of Barrick's nasty practices 
in regards to its mining operations. In an April 7 letter, Fabiola Marin of 
the Vidau NGO warned that "Al Gore may have the image of an environmental 
campaigner, but he is being callous in associating with the mining firm 
Barrick Gold.... Every environmentalist in Chile would like to warn him that 
his image as an environmentalist will be ruined if he attends events 
sponsored by Barrick Gold." The big question is whether these 
environmentalists will address the broader political implications of Gore's 
sponsors.

I found this on a blog.



Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> There an old saying about lying down with dogs and getting up with fleas. 
>